On This Day 25 October

[Coog]

The Second Battle of Cape Finisterre was a naval battle which took place on 25 October 1747 during the War of the Austrian Succession. A British fleet of fourteen ships of the line commanded by Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Hawke intercepted a French convoy protected by eight French ships of the line commanded by Admiral Desherbiers de l'Etenduère.

The battle took place in the eastern Atlantic, roughly halfway between Ireland and Cape Finisterre in northwest Spain. It was a decisive British victory that has been described as "the most brilliant naval action of the war". It put an end to French naval operations for the remainder of the war, thus eliminating any threat of an invasion of Britain and threatening the very existence of France's empire overseas.

North America was a secondary theatre of the War of the Austrian Succession, principally fought between France and Britain, and was a source of raw materials for both sides. Britain's Royal Navy had disrupted France's transatlantic trade in the past, notably at the First Battle of Cape Finisterre on 14 May 1747. France made a second attempt to reopen the supply routes in October of that year, assembling 252 merchantmen in the Basque Roads off La Rochelle. They would be protected by eight men-of-war from Brest.

The British got wind of this huge convoy, and dispatched a squadron of 14 smaller ships from Plymouth on 20 August. Hawke was given the command at the last minute after Sir Peter Warren had fallen ill with scurvy. The French set off on 17th October, and were sighted by Hawke's fleet eight days later at 7am.

Initially Hawke thought he was up against a much larger fleet of warships, and formed a line of battle; when the French responded in kind Hawke realised that he was faced by inferior numbers that could be progressively enveloped by a "swarm" of ships. This allowed the British to make up for their inferior individual firepower by concentrating their fire on one ship at a time as Anson had done back in May, rather than rigidly sticking to a line of battle. At first the French mistook the British ships for members of the convoy; on realising their mistake the French hoped to use their warships to just divert the British for long enough that the merchants had a chance to escape into vastness of the Atlantic.

Hawke approached from leeward while the French sailed close-hauled in a line ahead, hoping he would engage in a long-range artillery duel. Instead, Hawke made the signal for a general chase, freeing his captains from the constraints of a formal battle. The British overhauled the French line and enveloped it from rear to van, capturing six ships. The Comte de Vaudreuil in Intrépide, first in the French line, turned back to help his admiral, allowing both ships to escape. The French also lost 4000 men, which would prove as devastating as the loss of the ships themselves.

The merchants escaped under the protection of the Content 64 and Castor 26, and continued across the Atlantic. However most of them were intercepted and captured in the West Indies.

This disaster convinced the French government of its helplessness at sea, and it made no further efforts to fight convoys through the British blockade. This soon brought most of France's colonies close to starvation—particularly in the West Indies—thus bringing France to the negotiating table despite her victories in the Low Countries and elsewhere. King Louis decided to give back the Netherlands in return for normality in the colonies. The psychological impact of the battles of Cape Finisterre continued into the Seven Years War (1756–1763), as King Louis would prove reluctant to send men and supplies to New France and her other colonies.

Order of battle:

Britain (Edward Hawke)

Devonshire 64/66 (flag, John Moore)
Kent 74 (Thomas Fox)
Edinburgh 70 (Thomas Cotes)
Yarmouth 64 (Charles Saunders)
Monmouth 64 (Henry Harrison)
Princess Louisa 60 (Charles Watson)
Windsor 60 (Thomas Hanway)
Lion 60 (Arthur Scott)
Tilbury 60 (Robert Harland)
Nottingham 60 (Philip de Saumarez)
Defiance 60 (John Bentley)
Eagle 60 (George Brydges Rodney)
Gloucester 50 (Phillip Durrell)
Portland 50 (Charles Stevens)
Weazel 16

France (des Herbiers de l'Etenduère)

Tonnant 80 (flag, Duchaffault) — escaped
Intrépide 74 (Comte de Vaudreuil) — escaped
Terrible 74 (Comte du Guay) — captured
Monarque 74 (de la Bédoyère) — captured
Neptune 70/74 — captured
Trident 64 (Marquis d'Amblimont) — captured
Fougueux 64 (du Vignau) — captured
Content 64 — escaped with merchants
Severn 50/56 (du Rouret de Saint-Estève) — captured
Castor 26 — escaped with merchants
Convoy of 252 ships

[Coog]

The USS Enterprise vs Flambeau was a single ship action fought on 25 October 1800 during the Quasi-War. During the action the USS Enterprise defeated the French privateer brig Flambeau off the leeward side of the island of Dominica in the Caribbean Sea. Although the Enterprise was outgunned by the Flambeau she was still able to take her as a prize after a short battle. The battle helped bring to fame the Enterprise's commanding officer, Lieutenant John Shaw, who added the capture of Flambeau to his already long list of French prizes.

During the Quasi-War American merchant ships often became the target of French privateers who seized them in large quantities. In an effort to stem these depredations against American shipping several United States Navy warships were dispatched to hunt down French privateers. One such vessel was the USS Enterprise, American naval schooner under the command of Lieutenant John Shaw. Enterprise had been sent out to the Caribbean Sea in March 1800 with orders to cruise against French shipping in the region. Enterprise had already previously engaged and defeated several French privateers when on the night of 24 October she sighted the privateer Flambeau off the leeward side of Dominica.

The French letter of marque Flambeau was a brig that was slightly more powerful than Enterprise, having twelve eight-pound cannon as compared to the American schooner's dozen six-pounders. The French privateer also had more crew than the American vessel, 110 opposed to Enterprise's 83. With a broadside of 48 pounds to Enterprise's 36 pounds and with a larger crew, Flambeau had an advantage over Enterprise. Nonetheless, Shaw decided to engage Flambeau. Enterprise could not catch up to Flambeau but when morning came Flambeau found herself becalmed. Her captain then used sweeps to close with Enterprise.

Eventually a wind came and the two ships managed to maneuver towards each other until they were within musket range. After engaging with small arms for a while, Lieutenant Shaw eventually veered his schooner away and the Flambeau opened up on the Americans with a broadside of roundshot. The Enterprise replied with her own broadside and the two vessels engaged each other with cannon for twenty minutes. The Flambeau was beginning to receive heavy damage when her captain decided to disengage and maneuvered away from the Enterprise. However, Enterprise pursued the French brig and continued to engage her.

Flambeau's foretopmast was in danger of being dismasted from damage it had received from Enterprise, so the French captain sent men aloft to try to repair it. However after a sudden gust of wind the mast flew off the ship carrying six French sailors with it. The Enterprise ceased her attacks upon the Flambeau and sent out a boat to rescue the French sailors adrift on the topmast. After rescuing the French topmen, the Enterprise caught up with the French brig and came alongside. Before the action could continue the French captain struck her colours as Flambeau's medicine chest had been destroyed and the hull compromised multiple times.

The entire action lasted about forty minutes. The French were much worse off than the Americans in terms of casualties, with 7 Frenchmen killed and 33 wounded compared to 3 Americans killed and 7 wounded. A prize crew from Enterprise was sent aboard the Flambeau and sailed her to Saint Kitts where she was condemned. The proceeds from the sale of the Flambeau were adjudicated to the crew of the Enterprise.

The capture of Flambeau brought further acclaim to Shaw, who had already defeated several other French privateers and taken them as prizes. Enterprise continued her cruise, next chasing down and capturing the Pauline and later the Guadaloupeenne. Shortly afterward, chronic illness forced Shaw to transfer command of the vessel to Lieutenant Andrew Sterett. Sterret continued to cruise the Caribbean, taking several more prizes before returning home. Upon Shaw's return home the president and other public officials personally thanked him for his service. Shaw later continued his naval career, serving with distinction during the War of 1812.

1543

[Coog]

The capture of HMS Macedonian was a naval action fought near Madeira on 25 October 1812 between the frigates USS United States, commanded by Stephen Decatur, and HMS Macedonian, under the command of John Surman Carden. The American vessel won the battle, and after a long bloody battle, the Macedonian was captured and brought back to the United States, the first British warship to ever be brought into an American harbor.

The United States declared war on the United Kingdom on 18 June 1812. United States, the frigate Congress, and the brig Argus joined Commodore John Rodgers' squadron at New York City and put to sea immediately, cruising off the east coast until the end of August. The squadron again sailed on 8 October 1812, this time from Boston. Three days later, after capturing Mandarin, the United States parted company and continued to cruise eastward.

At dawn, on 25 October, five hundred miles south of the Azores, lookouts on board United States reported seeing a sail 12 miles (19 km) to windward. As the ship rose over the horizon, Captain Decatur made out the fine, familiar lines of HMS Macedonian which was on its way to its station in the West Indies. [4]

Both ships were immediately cleared for action and commenced maneuvers at 0900. Captain Carden elected not to risk crossing the bows of United States to rake her, but chose instead to haul closer to the wind on a parallel course with the American vessel. For his part, Decatur intended to engage Macedonian from fairly long range, where his 24 pounders (11 kg) would have the advantage over the 18 pounders (8 kg) of the British, and then move in for the kill. The actual battle developed according to Decatur's plan. United States began the action at 0920 by firing an inaccurate broadside at Macedonian. This was answered immediately by the British vessel, bringing down a small spar of United States. Decatur's next broadside had better luck, as it destroyed Macedonian's mizzen top mast, letting her driver gaff fall and so giving the advantage in maneuver to the American frigate. United States next took up position off Macedonian's quarter and proceeded to riddle the hapless frigate methodically with shot. She hailed the Macedonian demanding the name of her antagonist and whether or not she surrendered. By noon, Macedonian was a dismasted hulk. When the United States closed for another broadside Carden was forced to strike her colors and surrender. She had suffered over one hundred casualties, i.e.one third of her crew, while the United States only suffered 12 and had over 100 round shots lodged in her hull. Because of the greater range of the guns aboard the United States it got off seventy broadsides, the Macedonian only getting off thirty, and emerged from the battle relatively unscathed.

The two ships lay alongside each other for over two weeks while Macedonian was repaired sufficiently to sail. United States and her prize entered New York Harbor on 4 December amid tumultuous national jubilation over the spectacular victory. Wherever they went, Captain Decatur and his crew were lionized and received special praise from both Congress and President James Madison. Macedonian was subsequently purchased by the United States Navy, and was renamed the USS Macedonian. It had a long and honorable career under the American flag.

After repairs, the United States sailed from New York on 24 May 1813, accompanied by USS Macedonian and the sloop Hornet. On 1 June, the three vessels were driven into New London, Connecticut, by a powerful British squadron, and United States and Macedonian were kept blockaded there until the end of the war. However, Decatur was transferred to the frigate President in the spring of 1814, and he took the officers and crew of United States with him to his new command. Hornet managed to slip through the blockade on 14 November 1814 and escaped to sea.

1544